


lightning in my heart

by zeebz



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives Except Bilbo Baggins, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Ben Solo - Freeform, Ben Solo Lives, Dark Rey, F/M, Happy Ending, Oneshot, Rey Palpatine, Reylo - Freeform, dyad in the force brings down the big bad, he can die that is fine he should die actually, mention of lightning torture, together
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-05
Updated: 2020-05-05
Packaged: 2021-03-02 19:14:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,928
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24011905
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zeebz/pseuds/zeebz
Summary: She was the fire.He was the wind.And together? Together they were unstoppable.
Relationships: Rey/Ben Solo
Comments: 2
Kudos: 21





	lightning in my heart

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, welcome to my first reylo fic and my first ever post on ao3 and I'm nervous and panicking and freaking out because it's definitely been a while and there are so many fantastic writers out there (hey yo shout out to all of you fantastic reylo writers who have inspired me to post this quick oneshot). 
> 
> Happy Star Wars day and May the Force be With You.

It burned. 

It burned and froze over all at once, Rey flying back onto the stone, her hands scraping along the rough surface. Her lightsaber clattered to the ground, shutting down. 

Her face was split down the right cheek. The smell of burning skin singed her nostrils. 

But it hardly registered. 

For her world was twisting, tilting on its axis as his blue blade crackled between them the Force humming as everything faded out. 

His amber eyes blazed, his dark hair was blown back, chest heaving as he stared into her being, into her very soul. 

_ I’m sorry, Rey.  _ The words were gentle, a soft caress. The antithesis of the mark that he had slashed across her face.  _ I’m so sorry.  _

She let his voice crash into her, fill her up. The utter heartbreak that reverberated to her bones made a sob push its way through her lips.

No one had ever apologized to her before.

And meant it. 

_ I’ll live.  _ She forced back towards him, shakily beginning to push herself to her feet. Her hands were stinging. 

Behind her, Palpatine cackled. Rey could practically see his templed fingers, tapping against one another as they so often did when things were going as planned. 

“Good, good young Skywalker.” 

Ben froze, his eyes darting from Rey’s to where her grandfather sat on the Sith throne. Rey regained her balance and called her lightsaber to her, igniting it as it reached her hands. The tip of her red blade sparked against the floor. 

“Finish what you started.” Palpatine cried, reaching his hands out towards Ben. Rey felt the strength it took for him not to back up towards her, to show nothing of their bond. “Strike her down with all of your hatred and take her place at my side!” 

Ice whispered down Rey’s spine and she slowly turned, facing her grandfather. “Excuse me?” 

Palpatine smiled, his lips curling over his teeth. Rey’s jaw clenched. 

“I can sense the struggle within you, granddaughter. You have too much compassion, too much hope. You are pulled to the light.” Rey bared her teeth, snapping her lightsaber. The double blade separated, falling into a double ended staff, red sparkling off of each end. 

Memories flooded into her, bright, hot, dry, sandy. Jakku. 

It was only her experience of living in the court of the Sith that prevented the tears from falling. 

“Young Skywalker here,” her grandfather continued, gesturing towards Ben. He whipped up his blue blade, wary. Rey felt a tremor of pride. “Has a heart like his grandfather. Strong. Determined. Loyal. Vengeful.” Palpatine’s eyes glittered. “He will make a fine apprentice. A true Sith Lord.” He sneered. “Unlike some.” 

A dragon reared its head, extending its wings. It flew its way up from her core, clawing up her spine. Fire spewed from its lungs and her soul was aflame. 

_ Rey.  _

_ Together.  _

_ Be with me.  _

His words, his soft words were a balm, a tonic. They flowed from the tether in their mind to her dragon, soothing the feral beast. 

Rey couldn’t stop herself. 

“Together.” 

The bonded pair turned in tandem, bruised and bloodied as they faced Palpatine. The Force began to sing between them and Rey finally welcomed it, let it fill her up. 

A dyad in the Force.

A balance. 

Palpatine faltered. 

Rey smiled. 

“You see, grandfather.” They moved as one, their steps slow and purposeful. Every fiber of their being was attuned to the Force. It buoyed Rey’s exhausted muscles, wrapped around her broken bones. “That is where you are wrong.” 

The pair reached the bottom of the Sith throne, the first step looming before them. Palpatine began to raise his hands, sparks dancing at his fingertips. Rey hesitated and her grip on her lightsaber wavered. 

The scars had never fully healed from where they raced up her back and her chest. A memory to the time she had rebelled. 

Ben reached himself out, his warmth and comfort wrapping around her, soothing in the way only he was. In the way he had when they had found each other. 

She was the fire. 

He was the wind. 

And together? Together they were unstoppable. 

“You didn’t count on the Force bringing us together.” 

Palpatine had the sense to look a little worried as they took the first step up towards the throne. 

“A dyad.” He whispered, the words cracking. 

“And,” Ben spoke as they advanced another step, “I prefer Solo.” Rey and Ben raised their lightsabers in tandem as Palpatine’s hands flew up, lightning bursting towards them. Ben stepped, pushing himself in front of Rey, taking the brunt of the Sith lightning with his blade, shouldering her burden. 

Pain lanced up her body as she watched in horror as the lightning burst past the safeguard of his lightsaber and coursed up his body. It was too strong. Ben’s jaw clenched, but he pushed forward, a yell escaping him as he moved up another step. 

_ I cannot let you bear this again. It broke you. I will not allow it.  _

His voice tumbled into her, pure agony written in it. Rey grit her teeth and forced herself to move. 

She braced herself and snapped up her own lightsaber, the double blade catching Ben’s between it as she stepped up beside him on the second stair. 

_ I will not allow you to shoulder my pain, my tragedy alone.  _

She turned to look at him. The lightning was caught between their sabers now, the blueish hue casting an eerie glow across his face, an expression Rey could not pinpoint blooming there. 

Then she felt it. 

Pride. 

Love. 

Absolute pride and pure love flooded into her, the bond opening up to its full potential. Rey choked back a sob as she flung herself towards Ben. 

_ Together.  _

_ Always.  _

Unshed tears shone in his eyes and Rey smiled. It tugged at her new scar, but it was insignificant. 

He was here. 

And they would make things right. 

With a breath, the dyad turned their attention back towards Palpatine and moved another step up. The lightning was never ending, but the Force hummed and their hands moved and suddenly it was being projected back onto the maker. His scream reverberated through the abandoned Sith temple, echoing back over the dead bodies of the Knights of Ren and his royal guard. 

That’s when she felt it. 

A whisper.

A touch on her shoulder, guiding her arm. 

A gentle caress of her cheek. 

Rey looked over at Ben in alarm and stopped. 

A man, young, a scar down the right side of his face, dark wavy hair like Ben’s was standing there, his hand resting upon Ben’s bicep. 

_ Finish what I started. Finish what I could not. End the cycle.  _

The strong words plowed through the rest of Rey’s doubts and inhibitions. They gave her hope. They gave her strength. 

With an almighty roar, the couple pushed forward the final step. Moving as one, they separated their blades before bringing them forward, crossing them once more as they severed the Emperor’s head from his body. 

It was as though all of the living Force around them was suddenly sucked into the vacuum of space and then released. 

It whirled and shrieked, plunging the Sith temple into complete and utter blackness. Rey reached out, brushing against Ben’s hand. His fingers clasped tightly around hers and they pulled closer, hips brushing against each other. Rey couldn’t even see her lightsaber in front of her. Wind from nowhere whipped around them, her dark robes wrapping tightly around her legs, catching on her boots. Ben’s grip tightened as he interlaced their fingers. 

_ Don’t let go sweetheart.  _

_ Not a chance.  _

The darkness howled as it spun around them, desperately seeking anything to latch on to. Rey forced herself to keep her eyes open, scanning the blackness as she opened herself up to the Force. It flooded into her, baring its teeth whenever the darkness grew near, slashing at it with talons made of life and space and nothing and everything. 

_ It’s trying to latch onto us. It’s how he survived so long.  _ Rey tumbled down the bond. Ben opened himself up to her, his surprise radiating along the taut thread that connected them.  _ Open yourself up to the Force, it will protect you.  _

The gentle motion of his thumb rubbing across the back of her hand was enough to break Rey and she intertwined his fingers with her own. She  _ felt  _ him beside her, a beacon of light and hope and righteousness. 

She was nothing but blackness and revenge and anger compared. 

_ No.  _

Her eyes opened suddenly - she didn’t know she had closed them. 

_ You are compassionate. You are selfless. You are hopeful. You are everything I am not.  _

_ Ben-  _

_ Rey-  _

There weren’t enough words in all the galaxy and beyond to convey what she needed him to know. So Rey did what she did best. 

She acted. 

She thumbed the ignition switch on her lightsaber and tossed it to the side, losing it in the all encompassing blackness that was her grandfather’s life force. It was still wailing, still trying to latch on to continue to grow and fester like an open wound. 

Rey wouldn’t allow it. 

She reached for Ben with her other hand and grasped at his shirt. Her fingers fumbled, tugging at what she hoped was his collar and pulling him down. Her lips crashed against his chin and she let out a curse. She could  _ feel  _ his amusement, felt his breath on her cheek as he chuckled in her ear before she captured his mouth in her own and everything 

fell 

into 

place. 

The light. 

The dark. 

Life.

Death. 

A balance. 

**_The balance._ **

A second, a minute, an hour. A lifetime. 

When they pulled away slowly, Rey opened her eyes. He was before her, his forehead coming to rest upon her own. 

No words were shared. 

None needed to be. 

His hand was resting softly on her neck, his thumb gently brushing at the hair that had escaped her braids. 

Sunlight drifted in through the broken ceiling, illuminating the area where they stood, casting the Sith throne in shadow. 

The darkness. 

It was gone. 

The tears leapt unbidden to her eyes, falling down her cheeks in rapid succession. Ben’s brow furrowed and the soft smile that had started to form on his lips pulled down into a frown. 

_ Sweetheart? _

“He’s gone.” Rey inhaled shakily, her legs giving out as she tumbled towards the stone ground. Ben caught her, like he always had, and pulled her into his lap, cradling her head against his solid chest as they sat there in the sunlight. “He’s really gone.” A sob burst through her lips followed by a peal of laughter. Ben pulled back and cocked an eyebrow at her, his head tilting in confusion. Rey couldn’t stop as more laughter tumbled from her chest. 

“Ben, I’m...I’m free.” 

This time, his smile was real, genuine. It pulled at her heart and she couldn’t stop herself from pulling him down towards her into another kiss. 

“Don’t you feel it?” He whispered against her lips. He looked down at her, his amber eyes practically glowing in the sun. “The peace?” 

Rey sighed against his neck, her lips brushing at the soft skin there. Ben shuddered and his arms tightened around her. One hand snaked up and brushed softly through her hair. Rey hummed in contentment and allowed her eyes to close. “It feels....”

“Good?”

“As if everything is where it is supposed to be.” 

Ben nuzzled at her hair in agreement. 

“Be with me?” 

“Always.” 

  
  



End file.
